Page 6 of Forever & Always You
I suck in a sharp breath. The memory is so vivid that it makes me instantly recoil from the window. I race to my walk-in closet and hastily scan the shelves above the clothes that are still here after all this time. There’s one thing I’m looking for, something that’s been tucked away safe and sound for twelve years, yet I still remember exactly where I stored it back then.
It’s inside an old jewelry box my late grandmother gave me. One with ballerinas that twirl and sing when you open the lid, and I spot the pink velvet box wedged between old designer handbags I used to sport going to the mall. I stretch up on my tiptoes and grab the jewelry box.
When I open it, the ballerinas attempt to spin, but they only judder and sing a robotic, freaky tune instead. Quite frankly, I’m surprised they even move at all after so long. Inside, however, there is no jewelry. Just a perfectly folded piece of paper.
I almost can’t bear to open it.
It’s an agreement we signed at the age of twelve, because we were goofy kids who wanted nothing more than to be so cool and grown up with a binding contract. My heart ricochets in mychest.
Written on the paper, it reads:
We will be best friends forever.
My name sits underneath, written in my very serious attempt at cute calligraphy, and his name is scrawled right next to it in typical boy fashion.
It’s like a knife to the heart, reading his name.
Austin Pierce.
There are many things I regret in my life, but I’m not sure any of them can ever come close to the remorse I feel for the way I treated Austin Pierce. The things I did to him, the cruel words I spoke .?.?. By the time my guilt caught up to me, the damage was done. Our paths had already gone in different directions, and it wasn’t until the sudden and abrupt death of my father three years ago that I finally looked in the mirror and knew things had to change. It was the start of my bad karma. As I wallowed in the grief of my loss, I alsoembracedit, because I deserved it. My downfall was long overdue, and in order to truly understand just how miserable I’d made others feel when I was younger, I needed to suffer too. So, I dropped out of college, restricted my finances, cut off my social circles, rented a crappy apartment and applied for bottom-of-the-barrel jobs. It’s been a tough few years, living this sad little life of mine, and I wasn’t sure I’d punished myself enough for my wrongdoings until last night, when finally someone said it:you’re nothing.
Now it’s time. Time to piece my life back together again, time to make things right, time to find Austin Pierce. He needs an apology, and I need his forgiveness.
It’s the very first step in my redemption arc.
3
Austin Pierce is surprisingly easy to find, but anyone is easy to find on the internet. No one can hide the traces of their existence, but I thought I’d at least have to do some detective work and digging.Nope.I simply searched for his name paired with North Carolina, and the very first result was a company namedPierce Wealth Management.I immediately dismissed it as impossible to bemyAustin Pierce, because the Austin Pierce I knew grew up clipping food coupons, scraping pennies together to buy candy, and wearing the same clothes every semester even though he’d sprouted in height. It didn’t register in my mind that there was even a remote chance of Pierce Wealth Management being connected to him, until I checked out the website. There was a picture.
And fuck, it took me so much by surprise, I dropped my phone down the center console of my car and nearly fractured my wrist trying to retrieve it.
Itwasmy Austin. But it was also nothing like my Austin at all.
I stared at the professional headshot for longer than I care to admit, allowing a range of emotions to work their way through me. Surprise at how different he looks since the last time I sawhim seven years ago; pride for his clearly very successful career when the odds were stacked against him as a kid; shame for how terribly I treated a boy who was never anything but sweet to me.
Ugh.
Even more surprisingly, the offices of Pierce Wealth Management are right here in Wilmington, our hometown. Austin won a D1 track scholarship to Alabama State, yet seems to have kept his roots here on the coast and moved back home after graduating. In one way, I was relieved I don’t have to trek across the country to find him. In another, I realized I had no excuse not to go and find himtoday.
So, I drove downtown, right to the door of Pierce Wealth Management’s office, and have now been anxiously nibbling at my cuticles for the past thirty minutes as I stare at the building.
Of all of my terrible decisions, this may have to be the worst one.
What the hell am I thinking? I’ve had seven years to apologize, and that surely has to be seven years too late. If Austin even remembers me at all, it’ll be only with contempt. High school was rough for him, and I’m sure the last thing he wants is the person who made it a thousand times worse showing up at his workplace.
I start my engine back up, then shake my head.
“Just do it, Gabby,” I tell myself, then kill the ignition again.
As I step out of my car, I forge a plan. Step one of the plan: think of a goddamn plan. But by the time I reach the automatic doors, they slide open and I step inside with no other option but to wing it and hope for the best.
The building’s decor is minimalistic and monochrome with tiled, marble-effect flooring. It smells overpoweringly of jasmine and the woman behind the giant reception desk stands to greet me, revealing her formal attire.
“Good morning! Is there anything I can help you with today?”
“Um.” I glance around one more time, noticing framed photos on the walls of the same headshots I found on the website. Several financial advisors work here, but there’s only one I want. “Is Austin Pierce available?”
“Are you an existing client?”
